Summer Holiday
by XJaxX
Summary: Have you ever needed to get away from it all? Ever needed a break from who you are? Ever found out your father moonlights in tights? Things are a bit confusing for CJ right now and it's time he had a little vacation.


**_Yes, I know. I already have another fic that's been waiting over a year to be updated. It's just sort of hit a road block. I fear the same may happen for this one too. But as I've said before, it may take forever and a day, but it will get finished eventually. I ask a lot of patience of my readers, but I know we're all after quality, not quantity, right ;)_**

**_Anyway, I thought I'd bring the next-gen idea a little closer to home. To my home that is. The seed of this idea came to me a few years ago when one of my friends was playing at daredevil on our favourite beach. Fortunately nothing as insidieous as this ever happened to us :)_**

**_Enjoy!_**

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In all honesty it wasn't the first time she had been cornered by the school bullies. It was however the first time she had been standing by a cliff's edge. Granted it was more of a sharp slope, but it was certainly a deadly drop to the beach thirty feet below.

How she got herself into these situations, she could not fathom; but you didn't go through school with hair as red as hers without attracting a lot of trouble. Fiery and unmistakable, she had spent years learning to dodge the verbal slings and arrows instigated by her vibrant mop. It was only in recent months that the taunts had warped into physical violence.

"Why don't you cut it off you freak?" One girl sneered.

"Yeah, go bald!"

"Are you kidding me?" She responded incredulously.

"She's probably got a misshapen head under all that ginger!" Another girl sniggered.

She stepped back timidly, knowing this conversation would cease to follow any logical tangent. The waves whooshed serenely below, reminding her to be careful where she treads.

"Maybe we should find out. Freaky hair and freaky head. Maybe we found out she's an alien?"

She couldn't help a snort of derision at this. Unfortunately that just spurred the gang on. The girls stalked closer with malice in their gaze.

There was no helping it, only one way left to go. She would have to climb down. She would have to climb down a cliff that dropped down several times her own height; Several times her own height and a concrete landing at the bottom.

She wasn't sure what was more galling; the fact that it was the first day of the school holidays or the fact that she'd be late for her first day at her summer job due to being deceased.

Or at least paralysed.

Oh well, there was no turning back. With quick dodge and scramble for the clearest slope, she launched herself towards the chalk precipice.

She lurched at her sudden changed in position but at least she hadn't fallen yet. As long as she didn't look down she'd be fine. She had seen hundreds of kids climb up this cliff before.

Of course she'd never seen anyone daft enough to climb _down_ this cliff before. And all those kids had had parents or older siblings standing by to tear them away from their daredevil antics.

That's when the first stone hit her. Some of the shale must have been knocked loose from her climb. She checked herself but then a larger rock hit her. It wasn't fine enough to be dislodged sediment.

Taking a glance up, she realised her antagonists hadn't given up just yet. They were throwing rocks at her; and the rocks were getting successively bigger.

She tried to descend, deflecting the projectiles as best she could. Then she saw one of the girls pick up a loose brick from the derelict wall. There was no where to go.

The brick hurtled towards her, hitting its mark mercilessly. She stayed conscious but her grip was gone. The world span and all she knew was that the falling sensation was the only real one.

CJ hadn't paid much attention to where he'd landed. In hindsight he was just glad no one had _seen_ him land. That would have sparked awkward questions. Only one man on the planet was supposed to be able to fly and that wasn't him.

Safely traversing by foot, CJ continued to wander aimlessly. He was by the sea that much he knew. And the local residents all spoke English. The weather was warm and families were at the beach. His best assumption, he'd ended up on a British coast line.

No problem. He could blend in here. Jeans and a T-shirt weren't an unusual sight.

His biggest problem was if he could find his way back to Metropolis.

But that could wait.

First he had to clear his head. First he had to figure what he was actually doing. First he had to figure who he actually was.

His deliberations however were quickly interrupted by a rapidly descending red-head.

The girl didn't seem to attract any attention as she wasn't even screaming. Perhaps unconscious? That would certainly make a rescue easier.

CJ nonchalantly stepped into place and drew his arms up. With a thud the girl fell into his grasp. A few heads turned in curiosity but most assumed the fall had been from a much shorter distance.

The only witnesses to whole event seemed to be the girls at the top of the cliff by the adjacent roadside. They were making a rapid retreat, but CJ could still hear their sniggering.

He wrestled with the idea of pursuing the foolish girls, but then the weight in his arms seemed to come back to her senses.

The red-head jerked in surprise. After blinking several times, she finally struggled out of his hold.

"It's alright, you're safe," CJ spoke, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

She stilled seemed a little shell shocked.

"What? How – I – thank you!"

"Are you alright?" He asked, surprised by how pleasant her voice was, even when stammering.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just – well I…" She stuttered.

"Are you sure?" CJ insisted. He took a step closer, wanting to be certain.

She stepped back, "I'm fine, really. Thank you," her eyes widened almost in fear, "Work! I'm gonna be late for work!"

It was CJ's turn to be surprised.

"Look, maybe I should take you to a hospital, or a medic. That looks like a nasty knocked to the head…"

"No honestly, I'm fine! I have to go. Thank you again!"

The red-head was already running, presumably to get to work on time. CJ watched her go, completely astounded and intrigued in the same measure.

Maybe he could stick around for a little while. Just to give himself a little thinking space of course.

* * *

_**Ta da! This fic is much less planned so may end up quite short. That however may mean I'll actually finish it fairly soon too!**_

_**Hope it was as good for you as it was for me!**_

_**XJaxX**_


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